


I Could Be There For You

by littledaybreaker



Category: Hunger Games (2012) RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-12
Updated: 2012-05-12
Packaged: 2017-11-05 05:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/402863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledaybreaker/pseuds/littledaybreaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jennifer didn't want to be that girl who made a habit of dating her co-stars. It just sort of happened that way. It felt like Josh was the person that she had been waiting for her whole life, and he had finally just strolled casually in with his hick accent and his goofy smile and his pickup truck and stole her heart. She had never stood a chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Could Be There For You

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the Eisley song of the same name. My working title was "This Is Love" but it's been so long since I actually wrote this that I can't remember why. I think I prefer this one.

“Are you sure you're good down there? Cause I can sleep down there. You can have the bed.”  
Amandla snuggled down, shaking her head. “It's like a nest of blankets.”  
Jennifer laughed. “I guess it is a little like a nest. And if you're good down there, little bird, I'll turn off the light.”  
She nodded, barely perceptible and probably mostly asleep, and Jennifer flicked off the lamp and laid in the eerie hotel-room silence, waiting—waiting for so long that she convinced herself that he wasn't coming, so long that she, too, had rolled over to go to sleep by the time she heard the soft click of the door unlocking.

She had given him the key when they checked in, and he had used it a handful of times—in the daylight, and before all of this had happened—but never this late, and never after. This, she knew, was different. Now, she knew, everything had changed.

Careful not to disturb the lump of sleeping kid on her floor, Jennifer padded out into the living room, where Josh sat, pajama clad and staring into space. “Hey,” he said, looking up at her but not really looking at her. “So what happened?”  
Jennifer took a seat next to him, twining her fingers together, tapping her bare feet against the carpeted floor. “We broke up,” she said, matter-of-fact, zero emotion. “I called him and some other girl picked up.”  
Josh considered this, chewing his lip thoughtfully. “Ouch,” he said evenly.  
Jennifer shrugged, looking over at him, studying his face. She didn't want to be that girl who dated her costars just because they were there, didn't want people to think she was that girl even if it wasn't true. But she knew that with Josh it _wasn't_ a matter of convenience, that it was and always had been bigger than that. It felt like Josh was the person that she had been waiting for her whole life, and he had finally just strolled casually in with his hick accent and his goofy smile and his pickup truck and stole her heart. She had never stood a chance. And since when did she care about what other people thought of her anyway?   
“I love you,” she said finally.   
Josh stared at her for a moment as if he was trying to gauge whether or not she was serious. He must have decided that she was, because he replied, “I love you, too.”  
“Oh, thank god,” she said stupidly, because it was the only thing that she could think to say.   
He laughed, and then she couldn't help it—she was laughing, too, and he was pulling her into his lap and kissing her, holding her face in his hands. “Of course I love you,” he said when they finally broke for air. “I've loved you forever, I just didn't know how to tell you, and you had your boyfriend and...”  
“...now I don't anymore,” she finished for him, and for the first time since it had happened, she could feel tears stinging the back of her throat. She swallowed them down, kissing him again, until they were both breathless and flushed.   
“I would invite you to bed,” she said sheepishly when they finally stopped kissing, their foreheads pressed together and her legs wrapped around his waist, because she couldn't bear the thought of being away from him now. “But I let Amandla have a sleepover.” Because even though Jennifer always joked about being a horrible influence and that she didn't understand why Amandla's mom let her stay with her unsupervised, the worst thing that she did was let her order cheeseburgers for breakfast and stay up until 5 am, and bringing Josh to her bed while Amandla slept on the floor would definitely cross a line she wasn't comfortable crossing.  
“S'okay,” Josh replied, “As long as I can stay here with you.”

So they sat up all night, curled together, talking about everything they could think of, until the sun started peeking through the curtains and they eventually fell asleep sitting up on the couch, Jennifer's head on Josh's shoulders and their fingers intertwined, where they stayed until Jennifer was woken up by Amandla poking her in the head, smiling knowingly at her. “Can we get McDonalds for breakfast?”  
Jennifer blinked in the bright light of early morning and not enough sleep, nudging Josh awake. “Yeah. Go get dressed and we'll go.”  
Amandla did a cheerful little bounce, and then grinned. “Josh can come, too,” she said, scurrying off to get dressed.

Once Amandla was gone, Jennifer leaned over and kissed Josh on the nose. “Wake up, loser, we're going to McDonalds. And then we're going to talk about what this makes us.”  
Josh looked up, sleepy and adorable, and Jennifer's heart melted a little bit. “I wanna be your boyfriend,” he replied.   
Jennifer beamed. “And I want to be your girlfriend, so I guess that's sorted out. Good talk. When we get back we can make out instead.”  
Josh got to his feet, straightening out his shirt, combing his fingers through his hair, and grinned that goofy, boyish grin that sent Jennifer's heart fluttering. “I think I like this arrangement,” he said.

After breakfast, Josh went back to his room to shower and put on clean clothes, and Jennifer brought Amandla back to her room.  
“Are you and Josh boyfriend and girlfriend?” she asked, her eyes twinkling, and it was all Jennifer could do to not grab her and hug her so tight she couldn't breathe. Instead, she smiled right back, nodding. “Yeah. I guess we are.”  
Amandla squealed, hugging _Jennifer_ so tight that _Jennifer_ couldn't breathe. “I'm so _happy_!” she shrieked. “You guys are so _cute_!”  
Jennifer laughed, hugging her back. “Yeah yeah. Go to your room before your mom starts thinking I kidnapped you. I'll see you at dinner.”

Josh was waiting for her when she got back to her room, and it was all she could do not to tackle him now that they were _finally_ alone. Instead, she snuggled in close to him on the sofa, resting her head on his shoulder, and they talked. They talked about the future, about all the things they could do now, about how good it was to be each others, which somehow turned into a conversation about dinosaurs and the relative merits of coffee versus other forms of caffeine and the existential properties of cake, which somehow turned into them fooling around in the giant hotel bed, which eventually turned into them laying together, blissed out and listening to the sounds of their own breathing in the quiet. It was a good thing, Jennifer reflected, that she didn't want to make a habit of dating her costars, because she wasn't about to let this one go any time soon.


End file.
